Be Open think tank

#BeOpenARCH Arkansas architecture studio Marlon Blackwell Architects has unveiled designs of a 39-metre-high air traffic control tower that will replace an existing 80-year-old one on the airport's grounds in Indiana's Columbus Municipal Airport. The flat, geometric steel and aluminium-clad structure references the array of modernist architecture constructed in the town in the 20th century.

#BeOpenDESIGN German designer Jonas Finkeldei has collaborated with Nick Potter to create Threefold, an outdoor piece of furniture that can be quickly converted from a mat into a lounger, stool or table, which makes it a perfect companion for picnics, camping or outdoor events. The construction is supported by stretchers and is safe and secure to use. It can be adapted to the needs of various users – e.g. it can be a lounger for those wishing to lay back with support or transform into a low stool for the aged who cannot sit cross-legged on the ground.

The Outlaw Bike has been designed by Denis Cardoso as an awareness campaign against the Brazilian tax regime, which taxes as high as 70 percent on bicycles and makes them very expensive and inaccessible to most of the population. The design can be reassembles as an armchair, which is taxable at 12 percent and is therefore more affordable. Both furniture and bike are made from the same parts and same materials including treated wood, laminates, aluminum, steel and environmentally-friendly leather. #BeOpenDESIGN

#BeOpenDESIGN NYC based designer Nikolas Bentel designs fashion accessories that are ultra-practical having exactly one function. The series includes such extraordinary items as a bag for a hot dog or a single slice of pizza.

#BeOpenDESIGN As its name suggests, the Time Table by Korean designer Yunseo Jung is a table that keeps track of how you spend your time. Attached to its leg is a small circular tray, which moves up and down, changing its elevation as time passes before returning to its base state at the lowest point, thus demonstrating the movement of time in a very visual manner.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designed by Milan-based designer Claudio Larcher specially for schools, Paco y Paco is a low-cost and easy-to-assemble set of a table and stool that uses minimum materials and only requires a movement similar to closing a backpack to assemble. The furniture is easy to put up and easy to store when not needed. The minimalist set is made up from some pieces of wood and a rope attached to it. It also features a wooden ball to help with the assembly and to knot the rope. When assembled, the set is comprised of a minimalist desk and simple stool that are stable enough to hold a student and their school supplies and books. More foldable stool designs in our blog.

#BeOpenDESIGN Designed to transform any corner of your home into a functional office space, Workstick by Turkey-based product designer Alp Çakın can turn a section of a wall or an open space (e.g. sofa) into an improvised home office. The vertical working system for home is incredibly versatile, mobile, functional, and does not occupy the precious floor space. Additional shelve modules, as well as a storage unit and a lighting unit, can be added to it to customize the solution. Besides, the furniture can be moved to the desired area with the help of hidden wheels under the foot of the product. More flexible desks in our blog.

#BeOpenDESIGN Produced by Shenzhen Samore Design&Research Product Planning, Accordion paper cup is a new type of eco-friendly portable paper cup, which has a sleeve that expands upward, turning it into an improvised bag to hold the takeout drink. The product is made entirely from recyclable, renewable and biodegradable materials, reducing unnecessary waste. The design provides both cold and heat insulation, as well as an extra grip for an otherwise smooth and slippery cup. via ifdesign.com

#BeOpenART #BeOpenNEWS BE OPEN Art is happy to announce that Esinulo Chiamaka Praise, contemporary Nigerian artist, has been voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of art.beopenfuture.com Every month we give a platform to emerging talents from all over the globe and invite art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those exhibited in our online gallery. In June 2024, Esinulo Chiamaka Praise was granted the majority of votes by the visitors of our online gallery. Esinulo Chiamaka Praise is a graduate of Fine and Applied Arts at Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria. Chiamaka is inspired by how human existence compliments time. She fuses the African heritage and its cultural diversities into her works through the use of patterns on the costume of her subjects. Congratulations to Chiamaka!

#BeOpenDESIGN Part of graduation project of RCA student Mengtian Zhang, the Sonic Seasoning is centered on the satisfying sensory experience of listening to ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) sounds to elevate the buildup expectations of taste before the first bite hits the mouth. According to the designer, these sensory inputs help enhance the perception of the food’s taste even though it might not be that tasty, i.e. when on a very low sugar diet.

#BeOpenDESIGN When his small daughter asked Bülent Ünal to teach her to play chess, the industrial designer came up with an innovative chess set Illuminis intended specially for children. What makes it outstanding is that all chess pieces illuminate the squares where they can move by laser light. When pressed on the chess piece, the route it can go in the area in front of it is visualised with rounds. By this way, children can learn the movement of pieces visually. The bottom of each piece comes outfitted with battery slots for fast and accessible charging.

#BeOpenNEWS #BeOpenART #BeOpenRegionalArt BE OPEN Art launches the third regional competition of 2024 to support emerging artists of Central America. The third stage of the second year of the programme run will cover Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The stage will traditionally last three months, and the regional winner for Central America will be announced and awarded 500 euro at the end of September 2024. In the meantime, artworks by 20 emerging artists from the listed countries will be posted at the online gallery every month, and a public vote will select the Regional Artist of the Month. At the end of the stage, one of the monthly winners will become the Artist of the Region, based on the amount of votes by the public and the BE OPEN art community members.

#BeOpenNEWS #BeOpenART #BeOpenRegionalArt In 2024, BE OPEN Art continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists, whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities. The second stage of the second year of the programme run that last from April to June covered the countries of Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Bahargol Ebrahimi, an Iranian painter born in Tehran, has been selected the Regional Artist of the month (June 2024) and become the last of the three candidates to the Artist of the Region and the 500 euros prize, alongside Samar Alzaidy (Iraq) and Anahita Zabehi (Iran).

#BeOpenDESIGN Japanese sculptor and author Yuka Morii has re-imagined Go, an abstract Chinese strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. Titled Nego, a play on "neko," the Japanese word for cat, this version invites the players to fit the most cats on the board by taking turns placing them onto a small grid. More reimagined classic board games in our blog.

#BeOpenNEWS On June 27 and 28, 2024, BE OPEN Foundation took part in the MED9 Ministerial Summit for Education for Sustainable Development and the UNECE Forum on ESD: Empowering Youth for Sustainable Futures in Cyprus, two of the most important education and sustainability focused events in the global agenda. At the event, BE OPEN shared the very relevant results and findings of its SDG-themed student competition programme, the positive outcome of cooperating with a number of institutions and its commitment to help integrate sustainability into curriculums of educational institutions globally.

#BeOpenARCH Named The Perch, a striking trapezoidal structure has been developed by architect Nicole Blair to fit just above an existing bungalow in Austin, USA. The studio space rests on four steel columns, piercing through the bungalow's walls below to resist lateral forces. Prefabricated Corten steel was craned into place to minimally disturb the site, and the cantilevered form gently sways in the wind, a reminder of its construction.

#BeOpenDESIGN Any type of paper can be used to create the A4 Candle by Japanese designer Kazuhiro Yamanaka. Attached to the end of the paper, a small coin-battery LED is activated by rolling the sheet, which forms a type of candlestick. The lamp is automatically off when the paper is flat again. One of the images shows a sheet of paper with a rough edge, created by tearing the paper, which mimics the uneven surface of melted wax.

#BeOpenDESIGN The collection of ceramic objects created by French designer Jacques Monneraud looks as if they were made of pieces of cardboard, taped together. After a series of research and testing of different types of clay and a variety of consistencies, Monneraud landed on a mix that evoked the texture of cardboard. The precise application of thin glaze on the unglazed pieces is used to emulate a delicately-applied piece of clear tape. The most challenging part, the designer admits, is to craft corrugation. More extraordinary tableware in our blog.

#BeOpenARCH Japanese studio Nendo has surrounded a triangular home situated along the road in Japan's Nagano Prefecture with 3m-high screens of concrete panels arranged in a gradient-like pattern to secure privacy from passing traffic and pedestrians. The line of sight is orchestrated by adjusting the angles of each block, fine-tuned by overlapping two rows of blocks in some places. In areas with a single row, the view is set in one direction. The material used for the blocks is made by replacing a portion of cement, with an industrial byproduct and adding a carbon dioxide-absorbing material for less CO2 emissions during production.

#BeOpenDESIGN This playful milk packaging design by Milan-based designer Muhammet Uzuntas pays homage to cows. The bottle is shaped like a cow's udder, which is not only cute but is also ergonomic, for four little teats give it more stability.